suffragette

American  

[suhf-ruh-jet] / ˌsʌf rəˈdʒɛt /

noun

1. a female advocate of the right of women to vote, especially one who participated in protests in the United Kingdom in the early 20th century.

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suffragette British  

/ ˌsʌfrəˈdʒɛt /

noun

1. a female advocate of the extension of the franchise to women, esp a militant one, as in Britain at the beginning of the 20th century

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suffragette Cultural  

1. A suffragist. Today, the term suffragette is often considered demeaning.

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Usage

What is a suffragette? A suffragette refers to a woman who advocates for women’s right to vote. This term especially applies to women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the U. S. and U. K.

Gender

See -ette.

Other Word Forms

• suffragettism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of suffragette

First recorded in 1900–05; suffrage + -ette

Compare meaning

How does suffragette compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• suffragist vs. suffragette

Explanation

A suffragette was a woman who advocated for women's right to vote during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Suffragettes — also called suffragists — used various tactics, including hunger strikes, in their fight for equality. While the term suffragist includes all the activists who have fought for the right to vote, particularly for women, suffragette usually refers specifically to the activists in the US and UK. The word was coined by a "Daily Mail" journalist, who used it in a derogatory way, only to have it embraced by the activists. The tactics of the suffragettes were controversial, and sometimes included arson and property damage. American and British women gained the right to vote in the early 1900s.

Example Sentences

The lyrics sheet contains the late singer's corrections, drafts and notes when creating his tracks Rock n Roll Suicide and Suffragette City.

From BBC • Nov. 28, 2023

A photo from 1913 shows the princess standing outside the Hampton Court Palace where she lived, selling copies of The Suffragette newspaper next to a board that read "Revolution!"

From BBC • Jul. 23, 2023

The plan was to do one big demonstration in Nashville to help commemorate the creation of the Tennessee Women Suffragette Monument in front of a large audience.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 6, 2021

His back catalogue is so rich, you inevitably end up having to lose tracks every bit as good as those you have picked in the process: Queen Bitch, Suffragette City, Be My Wife, Dollar Days.

From The Guardian • Mar. 19, 2020

One Suffragette wrote that an apology was due,—yes, J. replied, due to him.

From Our House And London out of Our Windows by Pennell, Elizabeth Robins